gmdebruyn

Well I tried removing the OEM sub and putting a box in the trunk, but it never sounded right. I ran into an installer in LA who does a lot of work with Mercedes owners. He suggested that I try this method. I will post a picture once the driver arrives, but this gives you a good idea how it is mounted. Attaching a 10" Aurasound MR 10.4 in the slot shown. See pics below. I think that the installer I used up here did a really nice job.

Let me know what you guys think. The metal rear deck is now fortified with a 3/4" MDF board below it. Between the MDF and the metal deck is some dynamat to reduce any vibrational noise. The amp was installed before and is a JL 500/1.

gmdebruyn

i know the pictures of the hole in my trunk were very exciting guys, but finally here is the finished product.

the bass sounds great. lows are very deep and low, and the mid bass has a very good punch (fast response). i set the Q level on the JL to very low (.55), turned the subsonic filter off, and my LP bass filter is around 70. will still play with the settings a bit to dial it in more, but i'm very satisfied with how this turned out. not the most glamorous sub installation, but the best sounding IMHO. also does not chew up a lot of trunk space.

i hate random sounds in any car i drive, so the rattling or reverberation sounds that some sub/amp/car combos have would have driven me nuts. i did not encounter any of these types of sounds, even on some bassy rap songs. i attribute this to the 3/4" MDF support, and the dynamat between the rear deck and that MDF.

see attached pics below.

MBE55AMG

Looks great! Job well done.

medici78

How did you remove the stock subwoofer? I know that it is a large plastic unit that includes the sub and the two side speakers.

gmdebruyn

if you look at my first set of pictures, you can see the plastic unit is intact. however, the original sub was stuck to that, in that area pictured, and was not a part of the large plastic unit (including speakers). first i cut out the cone with an X-acto knife. Then I used a Dremel with a cutting wheel. the sub was lodged into the plastic unit (not a part of it), so i cut it into thirds to remove it in pieces. took about 30 minutes (was being careful) as i was doing the operation from my back seat (removed the rear deck grille cover).

Below that was metal (which you can see in your car if you look inside the trunk). The installers cut the bottom off that, leaving just a small lip behind. As you can see in some of the first pics, that is where the screws attached, connecting to the front of the sub. Of course, gasketing was used between the front of the sub and the metal lip.

CALBenzo

Gmdebruyn,

The installation looks great. Can you tell me where in the Bay Area that you had the installation. I've been looking for an new subwoofer installation that doesn't require a separate box replacement.

Thanks,

gmdebruyn

Thanks man! I used Custom Car Alarm (they do stereos as well) in Pleasant Hill. The installer, Mike, is a perfectionist. They also did my Valentine One and Blinder Laser Jammer installation. Mention my name, or a description of my car and they'll remember my installation.

I used Walnut Creek Car Stereo about a year ago, and I was less than satisfied with the results.

gmdebruyn

Thanks! I'm just happy to have bass again.

CALBenzo

Thanks for the tip! Will definitely give him a call.

AMGfan

Looks great...How is the sound quantity/quality? Any rattles?

AMGfan

Sorry...didn't read the rest of the posts.

Merc AMG

I'm sure it's just the flash, but your black E55 looks silver in the pics. Anyway nice job, bet it sounds nice.

amgdriven

Being that the sub is in a "freeair" position/install.............would a trunk full of stuff take away from the bass?

gmdebruyn

it's a combination of the flash and the car needing a wash that day.

gmdebruyn

theoretically, reducing the volume (by adding "stuff") would change the Q level. there are different Q's for different enclosures (sealed, ported, and free air). as the volume increases, i've noticed that a lower Q is better. for small enclosures, the Q level had to be increased. i had the shop install the variable Q controller knob up front under the steering wheel.

in practice however, on my way back from Costco this weekend (trunk full), i noticed very little difference in the bass response.

keep in mind that the driver is firing up into the cabin with this configuration. not like a box in the trunk where the bass is bouncing around before finally making its way through the old sub opening.

amgdriven

Awesome! then a freeair woofer is something I need to do!

Thanks

gmdebruyn

glad i could help. there are many ways to skin a cat. this is just one of them.

Vetluver

gm,

You originally had your speaker in an enclosure in the trunk. Did you change it to increase loudness or quality? I can't imagine using anywhere near 500 watts in that position. Going thru the back seats causes my ears to hurt with my set up.

I have my JLA 10W7 in a tuned box and its will blow me out on some newer selections but on others I need to increase the gain.

Have you noticed improved modulation and less intrusiveness with this set up?

gmdebruyn

I strictly did it for bass quality. With 500 watts, I could get the loudness I wanted quite easily. The enclosure in the trunk configuration sounded muddy, and the bass was not defined. It also changed when I put things in my trunk. Definitely not tight and punchy at all. Also, quite a bit of rattling for certain very deep bass songs.

Yes, 500 watts is overkill, but I can guarantee that I'll play in the linear portion of the Watts/output part of the amplifier curve. The sound quality that I experience now compared to the enclosure in the trunk is like comparing day to night. The bass in Green Day songs is tight, deep, and punchy. The bass in Jesus Walks with Kanje West is deep and articulate, and hits you with a good solid punch. The extra rigidity that the MDF provided to the back deck along with the dynamat has reduced any car rattle that might have been there before.

With the sub firing direclty into the cabin, I feel that the bass is right there with the song. In the enclosure, it felt like a certain frequency range was always stuck in my trunk.

For my home theater, my amp is rated at 250 watts per channel x 5 into 8 ohms. I never crank it to 11, but the region I do play in sounds crisp and clean. Same principle applies here. Also, I give a lot of credit to the driver I used. Aurasound makes drivers second to none. I actually use 2 12" sub drivers in my home theater in my house.

Vetluver

I know exactly what you were up against and admire your experimental nature. I havent't wanted to do any permanent changes to my E55 and will continue to try to improve to the sound short of speaker removal.

Did you try connectting the factory woofer up to the JLA amp in series/parallel using the aftermarket sub for ultra lows only?

ONe other question, are you experience transient low voltage or did you add a capacitor to prevent this?

mching

Looks excellent, are you running it through the stock HK stereo system or have you also modified the entire system. I actually think the HK system is pretty decent, but could use more bass.

Thanks,

Mike

gmdebruyn

Stock system. Only thing that changed was running the sub inputs to the JL 500/1. Your assessment was the same as mine. Good sound, but needed more bass. So this seemed like the least intrusive thing to do while still maintaining trunk space.

mching

Awesome, I'll give them a call. Also having the EURO Command with DVD installed tomorrow by Steve of MbenzNL.

gmdebruyn

Thanks man. I don't like permanent changes either, but the way this was setup I actually think it cleans up the trunk a bit (material on the top instead of bare metal, etc.).

I did not try the two subs in parallel. I'm not sure how that would have helped because the bass would never have made it out of the trunk. When it was in the enclosure, it got into the cabin through the old OEM subwoofer "hole". I'm sure you could do an easy install and just give the OEM sub a little more juice through an amp. But then you risk blowing it. When it came out, it did not impress me as the finest of quality if you know what I mean.

I did put some weatherproofing between the license plate and the car, and the license plate frame and the license plate though to prevent outside rattle/vibration. I hate when cars roll up and all you hear is this bass thump and their cars are rattling to death. The bass sounds good, and outside you can hear the bass thump, but it the car doesn't sound like its coming apart at the seams from too much bass.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. I understand how a capacitor would bleed off any extra voltage, but how would I actually hear / experience the transient low voltage? (love learning new stuff)

mching

Last query, do they have the aurosound drivers at custom car alarm or did u get it from a different supplier.

Thanks